UI parity: tools, handles, modifiers and feel
Last reviewed: 2026-10-10 · Last updated: 2026-10-10 · Change: major (first version: tools, transform, nudging, snapping, modifiers, navigation, shortcuts, panels audited from source and open issues) · Target: Adobe Photoshop 2026
How PhotoCraft's direct manipulation compares with Photoshop 2026 (27.11.0): the toolbox, the
handles and modifier keys of each gesture, nudging, snapping, numeric precision, navigation,
shortcuts and panels. Painting feel has its own checklist in brush-parity.md
and right-click menus in context-menu-parity.md. The design system
(themes, tokens, widgets) is ui-design.md.
Status: done (behaves as in Photoshop, with a test), partial (exists, differs or untested),
missing. Evidence is a file under crates/ui-egui/src/ unless another path is given, a
scorecard id, or an issue. Modifier names are macOS first (⌘ ⌥ ⇧); Windows/Linux use Ctrl and Alt.
Summary (estimated, weights = how often the gesture is used): ~40% ready. Tools 53/68
present (78%, measured). Free Transform modifiers and Crop are close to Photoshop; the gaps are
in the long tail of modifiers, in-transform UI, spring-loaded tools, panels and preferences.
Remaining: 60–110 h for transforms and modifiers (gap G5), 60–100 h for tools (G6), 150–250 h
for panels and workspace (G9).
Tools
Measured: the Tool enum (state.rs:64) and TOOL_SECTIONS (panels.rs:17, 22 flyout slots)
against the 67 <tool> entries of Photoshop's Default Keyboard Shortcuts.kys plus Remove,
Triangle and Curvature Pen (minus legacy Rounded Rectangle and Targeted Adjustment) = 68.
| Group |
Present |
Missing |
| Move, artboard |
Move |
Artboard (commands layer.new.artboard* exist) |
| Marquee |
Rectangular, Elliptical |
Single Row, Single Column |
| Lasso |
Lasso, Polygonal, Magnetic |
|
| Selection |
Object Selection, Quick Selection, Magic Wand |
|
| Crop and slice |
Crop, Slice, Slice Select |
Perspective Crop |
| Frame |
|
Frame (layer.new.frameFromLayers exists) |
| Eyedropper |
Eyedropper, Ruler, Note, Count |
Color Sampler (#1046) |
| Retouch |
Remove, Spot Healing, Healing, Patch, Content-Aware Move, Red Eye |
|
| Brush |
Brush, Pencil, Mixer Brush |
Color Replacement (paint.colorReplacement exists) |
| Stamp |
Clone Stamp, Pattern Stamp |
|
| History |
History Brush |
Art History Brush |
| Eraser |
Eraser, Background Eraser, Magic Eraser |
|
| Fill |
Gradient, Paint Bucket |
|
| Focus, toning |
Blur, Sharpen, Smudge, Dodge, Burn, Sponge |
|
| Pen |
Pen |
Freeform Pen, Curvature Pen (#1054), Add Anchor Point, Delete Anchor Point, Convert Point (⌥ with Pen only) |
| Type |
Horizontal, Vertical |
Horizontal Type Mask, Vertical Type Mask |
| Path selection |
Path Selection, Direct Selection |
|
| Shapes |
Rectangle, Ellipse, Triangle, Polygon, Line, Custom Shape |
(Star is a Polygon option in Photoshop) |
| View |
Hand, Rotate View, Zoom |
|
| Toolbar controls |
Edit Toolbar, colour chips, Quick Mask, Screen Mode |
|
| Toolbar behaviour |
Status |
Evidence |
| Letter shortcuts, ⇧+letter cycles the group, "Use Shift Key for Tool Switch" |
done |
shortcuts.rs:413 |
| Group remembers the last tool used |
partial |
L always resets to Lasso (#2608) |
| Press-and-hold or click-drag opens the flyout |
missing |
right-click only (#2301) |
| Edit Toolbar customization |
done |
edit.toolbar |
Free Transform (⌘T) and transform handles
transform_tool.rs (3,158 lines), behaviour summary in ui-design.md.
| Behaviour |
Status |
Evidence |
| Eight handles, drag inside moves, outside rotates with rotation cursor and live angle |
done |
#1948 |
| Corners and edges proportional by default; ⇧ frees them (edge stretches one axis) |
done |
#1873 |
| ⌥ scales about the reference point; ⌥-click places it; draggable reference point |
done |
|
| ⌘-corner distort, ⌘-edge skew, ⌘⌥⇧ perspective, ⇧ rotate in 15° steps |
done |
|
| Warp: presets, bend, split crosswise/vertical/horizontal, 3×3–5×5 and custom grids |
done |
|
| Options bar X/Y, W/H % with link, angle |
done |
|
| Options bar H/V skew fields |
missing |
|
| Interpolation in the options bar |
partial |
Bicubic/Bilinear/Nearest; no Bicubic Smoother/Sharper/Automatic, Preserve Details |
| Commit/cancel buttons in the options bar |
missing |
#2442 |
| Right-click menu during transform (Scale, Rotate, Skew, Distort, Perspective, Warp, flips, rotates) |
missing |
TOOL-214-5 |
| Arrow keys nudge the box 1 px, ⇧ 10 px |
done |
move_mods.rs |
| Preview keeps layer order, blend mode and mask |
partial |
mask yes (BUG-205-2); order/blend not (#2439) |
| Preview clipped to the canvas, follows edits while open |
done |
#2201, #2099 |
| Hand (space) mid-transform doesn't interrupt it |
partial |
#2302 |
| Blend mode / opacity edits while transforming |
missing |
#1384 |
| Locked layer refused before the drag |
missing |
fails only at commit (#2585) |
| Transform a copy (⌥⌘T), step and repeat (⌥⇧⌘T) |
done |
2026-10-07 |
| Transform a targeted alpha channel |
missing |
BUG-207-4 |
| Smart object perspective (non-affine) |
missing |
FILE-215-6, #579 |
| Type-layer transform while editing (⌘ held), no ⌘-corner distort on type |
done |
ui-design.md |
| Puppet Warp mesh follows the outline |
missing |
block grid (TOOL-214-6) |
Move tool and nudging
| Behaviour |
Status |
Evidence |
| Arrow 1 px, ⇧-arrow 10 px for layers |
done |
move_mods.rs |
| Arrow nudge of a selection outline (selection tools) |
done |
#1502 |
| Arrow nudge of the crop box, X swaps orientation |
done |
TOOL-214-19 |
| Arrow nudge of path points with Direct Selection |
missing |
no arrow handling in direct_select.rs |
| ⌘-arrow nudges the layer from any tool |
missing |
#2474 |
| ⌥-drag duplicates, ⇧ constrains to 45° |
done |
move_mods.rs |
| Auto-Select with hover outline, box-select layers, double-click fit |
missing |
TOOL-214-4 |
| Auto-Select bounding box and snapping follow the picked layer |
partial |
follow the previous layer (#2666) |
| ⌘-drag temporary Move shows the box and snaps |
partial |
#2681 |
| ⌘-right-click layer list under the pointer |
done |
layer_pick_ui.rs |
| Moving a selection on a mask moves the mask, not the pixels |
partial |
#2468 |
Selection modifiers
| Behaviour |
Status |
Evidence |
| ⇧ square/circle, ⌥ from centre, live W × H readout (marquee) |
done |
marquee_tests.rs |
| ⇧ add, ⌥ subtract, ⇧⌥ intersect from modifiers at press |
partial |
works; only a badge test (BUG-208-4) |
| Space repositions the marquee while dragging |
done |
hold_keys.rs |
| Polygonal Lasso ⇧ snaps to 45° |
missing |
#2352 |
| Autoscroll at the window edge while selecting |
missing |
#2231 |
| Single-pixel rows and columns kept on release |
partial |
#2391 |
| Esc deselects / ⌘Z undoes the last selection |
partial |
#2674, #1432 |
| Select › Modify live preview |
missing |
#1752 |
Pen, paths and shapes
| Behaviour |
Status |
Evidence |
| Click corner, drag smooth, ⌥ breaks a handle, ⌘ direct-selects, ⇧ 45° |
partial |
TOOL-214-10 |
| Handle on the last point, close-drag handle |
partial |
#1482 |
| Path operations in the options bar (combine, subtract, intersect, exclude) |
partial |
layer.combineShapes.*; Pen options #1397 |
| On-canvas corner-radius handles on live shapes |
missing |
TOOL-214-12 |
| Shape stroke controls (dash, caps, joins, align) |
done |
TOOL-1053-1, shape-strokes.md |
| Rotated shape selection hints correct |
partial |
#2512 |
| Curved shape bounds exact |
partial |
one pixel too wide (#2537) |
Crop
| Behaviour |
Status |
Evidence |
| Drag outside rotates (⇧ 15°), angle readout; ↵ rotates and crops in one undo step |
done |
TOOL-214-18 |
| Straighten button and ⌘-drag line |
done |
TOOL-214-21 |
| Overlays (thirds, grid, diagonal, triangle, golden ratio/spiral), O / ⇧O |
done |
TOOL-214-20 |
| Crop shield, Show Cropped Area (H) |
done |
TOOL-214-22 |
| Default mode: the image turns and moves behind an upright box; Auto Center Preview; Use Classic Mode |
done |
TOOL-214-23 |
| W × H × Resolution with units, built-in size presets, Front Image |
done |
TOOL-214-9 (crop_size.rs) |
| Saved custom crop presets |
missing |
TOOL-214-9 |
| Content-Aware crop fill, Delete Cropped Pixels off |
partial |
|
Snapping, guides, rulers, precision
| Behaviour |
Status |
Evidence |
| Snap to guides, grid, layers, document bounds and centre, selection, slices; ⌘ disables while dragging |
done |
engine/src/snap.rs, snap_ui.rs |
| Snap vector tools and transforms to the pixel grid |
done |
snap_ui.rs:196 |
| Smart guides (magenta alignment lines) |
done |
|
| Smart guide distance and spacing labels |
missing |
|
| Ruler units px/in/cm/mm/pt/pica/% |
done |
|
| Status bar follows the ruler unit |
partial |
#2602 |
| Ruler corner and gaps drawn as Photoshop |
partial |
#2600, #2601, #2551 |
| Guides stored as f64 |
missing |
Vec<f32> (UI-217-20) |
| Geometry precision |
partial |
geom::Point f64, paths f64; paint internals mostly f32 |
| Numeric fields: arithmetic, scrubby labels |
partial |
units in expressions and double-click reset missing (UI-217-13) |
Navigation
| Behaviour |
Status |
Evidence |
| Space = Hand, ⌘Space / ⌘⌥Space = zoom in/out, spring-loaded while held |
done |
hold_keys.rs |
| Hold any tool letter for a temporary tool |
missing |
#2672 |
| Scrubby zoom |
done |
zoom_tool.rs |
| Flick panning |
missing |
tools.enable_flick_panning unread |
| Animated zoom |
missing |
unread pref; #566 |
| Double-click Zoom tool = 100%, double-click Hand = fit |
partial |
Zoom missing (#2508) |
| ⌥-wheel zoom in gentle steps |
missing |
UI-217-18 |
| Wheel, smooth scrolling and pinch as in Photoshop |
partial |
#2485, #2463, #1989 |
| Trackpad rotate drives Rotate View |
done |
rotate_view.rs:136 |
| Zoom levels to 3200% and beyond |
partial |
#1813 |
| Physical 100% at any display scale |
done |
#1943 |
| ⌃Tab / ⌃⇧Tab switch document tabs |
missing |
#2340 |
Keyboard shortcuts
| Measure |
Value |
Kind |
Photoshop default shortcuts (.kys) |
58 tool keys, 107 menu commands with 115 shortcuts, 25 tool-area commands |
measured |
| PhotoCraft |
~199 shortcut assignments, 113 distinct modifier/F-key combos, 20 tool letters, 3 temporary-tool bindings |
measured (source) |
| Shortcut audit |
214 → 0 failures (2026-10-07) |
measured then; not re-run here |
.kys import |
done (engine/src/kys.rs) |
|
| Shortcut glyphs per platform |
done (UI-217-19) |
|
Panels and workspace
30 of 35 Window-menu panels exist (measured). Missing: Libraries, Comments, Contextual Task Bar,
Discover, Generative variations. Dock tabs: Layers, Channels, Paths, History, Actions, Layer
Comps, Properties, Adjustments, Navigator, Histogram, Info, Color, Swatches, Character,
Paragraph; the rest open as in-app floating windows.
| Behaviour |
Status |
Evidence |
| Panel groups float and tear off into OS windows |
missing |
UI-217-5, #1828, #1213 |
| Drag panels to reorder and regroup |
partial |
#2272, #2305 |
| Docked resize pushes the neighbour |
partial |
#2573 |
| Color panel wheel and RGB/HSB/CMYK/Lab sliders |
missing |
UI-217-17, #2569 |
| Window size and dock width remembered |
done |
UI-217-2 |
| Command palette with recents |
done |
UI-217-7 |
| Every preference takes effect |
partial |
46 of 149 do nothing (scorecard) |
| UI scale presets |
missing |
UI-217-9, #2492 |
| Themes: Photoshop's four greys |
partial |
five themes; #2661 |
| Document tabs: overflow, context menu, reorder |
done |
UI-217-6; middle-click close #2570 |
| Layers panel: wheel steps blend modes, drop on New/Trash |
partial |
UI-217-14 |
Revision history
| Date |
Change |
Summary |
| 2026-10-10 |
major |
First version, from a source audit against Photoshop 2026 27.11.0's shortcuts file and the open issues |